The present invention relates to portable tent structures and, more particularly, to a lightweight two-person shelter which in its collapsed configuration can be easily lashed to a hiker's back pack thus facilitating easy transportation of all components of the unit by a single person.
Hikers, campers, hunters, and others who must brave the outdoor elements for reason of recreation or necessity usually carry a sleeping bag which provide only minimal protection. If additional protective shelter is required, a tent pack must be carried which is bulky, cumbersome and impractical to attach to the hiker's back pack containing the essential amenities for outdoor living in an adverse environment.
The prior art tents, even though collapsible, have been bulky and cumbersome to carry over difficult terrain such as encountered by outdoorsmen in the environmental areas traveled.
More recent patents in the portable tent arts are cited as follows: Cater, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,813 for a Back Pack Frame for Supporting a Tent; and Machenzie, U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,827 for a Lightweight Detachable Tent-Cot Means.
The Carter patent describes an L-shaped frame with extendable leg members which form a support frame from which the tent is hung. L-shaped members having sawtooth projections on the shorter legs are strapped to a tree trunk at the proper height to enable a tent member to be suspended therefrom. Separate dowel pins are required to lock the telescoping leg members in their extended position. The erection of this tent unit requires several preliminary operations; such as, finding a suitable level site in the proximity of a tree with a large trunk; dismantling the framework; removing dowel pins, etc. Such additional activities after a fatiguing hike through rough terrain are undesirable.
Other collapsible tent structures such as disclosed in the Mackenzie patent are still bulky in their collapsed state and require a greater erection-for-use time.